True Secrets of Freemasonry

Those who become Freemasons only for the sake of finding out the secret of the order, run a very great risk of growing old under the trowel without ever realizing their purpose. Yet there is a secret, but it is so inviolable that it has never been confided or whispered to anyone. Those who stop at the outward crust of things imagine that the secret consists in words, in signs, or that the main point of it is to be found only in reaching the highest degree. This is a mistaken view: the man who guesses the secret of Freemasonry, and to know it you must guess it, reaches that point only through long attendance in the lodges, through deep thinking, comparison, and deduction.

He would not trust that secret to his best friend in Freemasonry, because he is aware that if his friend has not found it out, he could not make any use of it after it had been whispered in his ear. No, he keeps his peace, and the secret remains a secret.

Giovanni Giacomo Casanova, Memoirs, Volume 2a, Paris, p. 33

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Anti Masonry or The Tin Foil Hat Brigade

A widely misunderstood pathology of mental incompetence caused by narrowing of the mind due to a lack of human compassion and understanding. This pretty much defines the anti-Masonic “mind” set.

When I was first raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason, I dove headlong into the Internet, seeking Masons out around the world. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a stone CLUE what I was getting into. I did a Google search for Freemasonry, and, due to manipulation and fraud, I found Freemasonrywatch.

What a bunch of quackers, hatemongers, tinfoil hat wearers and neo-nazi propaganda masters, often claiming to be Christian oriented or focused. So, misunderstanding the intent of the forum, thinking they posters were rational people looking for information and facts, I launched into a series of posts aimed at dispelling what I assumed were simple misunderstandings due to a lack of factual information. Who-boy, was I mistaken!

I ended up with a stalker, one “Evil Captain Morgan” or “Other Captain Morgan” or whatever other sock puppet he chose for the day. Real name was C.M.B. of North Carolina, an ex-con, a fraud, and a seriously deranged individual. By stalker, I mean literally, a stalker… for two years, I, a law abiding Mason, followed all the rules, filed police reports, FBI complaints, ISP complaints, and complaints and complaints and complaints against this nutter.

Unfortunately, the law does not protect honest men from the actions of crazy people. Its no wonder some people take the law into their own hands to stop harassment and stalking activities. As a Mason, I used entirely legal methods to halt the harassment, pornographic emails, DDoS attacks against my mail server, Viruses, Trojans, slanderous posts, impersonations, illegal use of my image, and worse.

Truthfully, many brothers assisted me in my efforts or I would not have been able to bring the nonsense to a halt... and the ability to use the Internet as a research tool. And one thing these cockroaches can't stand... LIGHT. To start our action, I published the name, address, email address, and telephone numbers for the people that originally hosted Freemasonrywatch.

They didn't like to be revealed, so they dropped hosting that sewage mill. Then, using entirely legal methods, in comparison with the entirely illegal and immoral methods used by the Evil Captain Morgan and his compatriot "Neo", we shut down five chat hosted boards. The current ISP host is now hidden behind a shadow representative, and their ISP host is also a shadow representative. Their Chat board has been "revamped" four times, and their traffic has all but vanished... and the Evil Captain Morgan is no longer allowed to post there.

You see, the bad news is the FBI, while agreeing that this person had violated about 31 felony statutes, and my rights, also stated that they were not going to pursue him because “the value of his crimes does not exceed $50,000”. Therefore we had to take entirely legal action to call a halt to the harrassment. As part of that legal effort, complaints were filed with his personal ISP, which resulted in his AOL account being canceled for abuse.

That was my very first exposure to "antimasons". Real fun guys.

Then I found The Lodgeroom, run by Stephen Dafoe, where I encountered the OTHER version of the antimason, the religious zealot as opposed to the tin foil hat brigade. These people are, in many ways, worse than the tin foil hat nutters, because they are ostensibly educated folks, dedicated to their religious faith, who deliberately misstate, mischaracterize, lie, cheat, defraud, defame, delude and otherwise act in a manner that is entirely contrary to the example set by the g-d they CLAIM to follow.

The zealots, with the stink of Torquemada and the inquisition all over them claim to be acting in the name of GAWD… as one brother put it, I really like g-d, but his self appointed ground crew scare me. These folks seem to be willing to spend inordinate amounts of time poking Masons in the eye, making all kinds of wild-eyed claims, supposedly in an effort to “reform” us.

We know that Freemasonry is not a religion; we know that Albert Pike did not claim Lucifer as a god, we know that Albert Pike never sent a letter to George Washington, and we know the Illuminati were a short lived group that have nothing to do with the modern users of the name. We know that Masonry is not anti Christian, and that most Masons ARE in fact, Christian.

Yet these men will come with the same old tired cliché claims again the craft, posting endlessly in the face of facts, which clearly refute their claims. In fact, when proven that Leo Taxil made up many of the claims they make, they will often admit that the statement he made noting his articles were frauds was itself a fraud, or that yes, he THOUGHT what he wrote when he made up the stories were fraudulent, but they really were true.

Or they will claim that we really don’t know because we are only blue lodge masons, until they are informed that we are 32nd degree masons, at which point they will claim that only the 33rd or 99th or whatever N th degree they need to claim “really” know the secrets. They don’t really have any facts to hand, or the “facts” they have come from the rantings of Leo Taxil.

Oh, there is more, but the basic facts are these: Anti-Masonic folks are simply afraid, of what they do not know. They need someone to hate, to despise, to point fingers at, and like the Nazi regime did in the 1930’s, they have fixed their attention on a group that, for the most part, refused to engage them, feeling for a long time, that their accusations were beneath contempt.

In the age of the Internet, we Freemasons have a level playing field. Freemasons the world over have taken advantage of that fact, as a simple Google Search will reveal. Five years ago, if you did a Google search for the keyword: Freemasonry, you came up with E5:11 and Freemasonrywatch.

Today, if you do the same search, you come up with Lodgeroom US, Lodgeroom UK, Grand Lodge of XYZ, and at the end of the list, the antimasonic hate sites. These days, we have a voice, and the grand lodge that does not have a web presence is almost unknown, and almost every lodge has its own web page, and men like Errol Hinton, Stephen Dafoe, William McElligott, and to a lesser extent men like me, have created a real presence on the Internet.

We are shedding light on the nasty little cracks in the world where hatred still thrives, and using the truth as a Beacon Of Masonic Light to dispel the vile untruths the anti masons, who stand for nothing, and only against a good and honorable fraternity.

In part, the purpose of this blog is to dispel the myths and spread the light of Freemasonry.

May the blessing of heaven rest upon us and all regular masons. May brotherly love prevail, and every moral and social virtue, cement us.

6 comments:

Tom Accuosti said...

Bro. Dunn, this is one of the best posts I've read in a while.

I started investigating Masonry well before I joined, and I spent a lot of time reading the Anti and Fundie web boards and the several Usenet groups. In fact, I'm still a regular on alt.freemasonry and soc.org.freemasonry (moderated). It's often very entertaining, and I have to confess to occasionally baiting an troll once in a while, simply to watch them foam at the mouth.

I'm guessing that our paths have crossed several times in the past, although I probably wasn't paying attention at the time.

Great blog - I added you to my roll.

Anonymous said...

That sound you hear in the background is me applauding, Bro Theron. Well said!

Calvin

Anonymous said...

Theron,
This is a good blog Brother. I had no idea you wnet through all of that. Internet cooks are everywhere, not unlike a certain wackjob in the dog world who caused enough havoc in my life. But that is for another day :)
When it comes to the anti Masons it is my opinion that they should not be confronted. Let them scream to the wind. They hated it when they are ignored.

Hey, I have been banned from Masonic forums and yet the rabid anti's have been allowed to stay so sometimes, Masons also like the attention.

Just my experiance.

BC 2006

Anonymous said...

and then there is the dark corner of the Craft wherein actual brethren, in their desire for change, stir the darkness and promote anti-masonic sentiment in their own indictments against lodges, brethren, grand lodges and obediences.

They are, IMHO, anti-masonic themselves.

--Rubelo

Anonymous said...

I would say that the "Good Ol' Boys" as well as the Knife and Fork Masons that control local lodges are the worst anti-Masons of them all.

In my experiance of course. Your mileage may very.

BC 2006

Abovetheheavens said...

3 years ago I was just a regular person without a care in the world. Now I am an anti-freemason, having had a a felony instigated against me by a group of Sephardic Freemasons. The reason I am against freemasonry is because I am against criminals, I am against pedophiles, and I am against all the stuff that is plainly, clearly, and specifically documented in the article below. So much for tin-foil hats.

Felony Conspiracy Plea Confirms Investigation into Masonic Sub-group, Royal Order of Jesters

News Type: Event — Thu Aug 14, 2008 1:23 PM EDTus-news, prostitution, royal-order-of-jesters, tills, trowbridge, stebickSandy Frost
A 2000 Challenger 335 MHA motor home, similiar to the one forfeited per Michael Stebick's plea agreement.

An attorney and member of two Masonic sub-groups has pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiring to violate the Mann act after admitting to driving a prostitute across state lines so she could be sold for sex to members of the Royal Order of Jesters at one of their weekend stag parties.

Michael R, Stebick, a former prosecutor for the Erie County district attorney's office, a former New York State Supreme Court law clerk and former Impressario or leader of the Jesters Buffalo Court #18 was caught with a retired police captain and a former New York State Supreme Judge, both also Jesters, during a fifteen month federal investigation into human trafficking.

Human Trafficking is defined as "the recruitment, transportation, harboring, or receipt of people for the purposes of slavery, forced labor and servitude."

Stebick has agreed to cooperate with the Human Trafficking Task Force/FBI investigation into the scandal plagued Jesters.

Before a man can be a Shriner or Jester, he must first become a Master Mason. He can then join other sub groups like the Scottish Rite, the Knights Templar or the Shriners. So, a man who is a member of the Royal Order of Jesters was first an invited Shriner who was first a Master Mason. (1)

Stebick is the second Jester to enter into a plea agreement with federal prosecutors for Mann Act violations. His plea agreement can be read here.

Last March 20, retired police captain John Trowbridge pleaded guilty to one felony count of violating the Mann Act by transporting prostitutes to Jester parties in Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Trowbridge was originally scheduled for sentencing on July 31, but will now be sentenced on November 4 due to being a witness in other cases. His plea agreement can be read here.

Ronald Tills, the former New York Supreme Court judge, has yet to go public with any cooperative agreements though federal court documents reveal that he was recently added as a defendant in an unrelated RICO complaint.

"Cooperation" for both Stebick and Trowbridge is spelled out in both their plea agreements as:

* Providing complete and truthful information regarding the defendant’s knowledge of any and all criminal activity, whether undertaken by the defendant or others, in any way involving or related to the unlawful transportation of individuals for prostitution or other sexual activity which is prohibited by law.

* Submitting to interviews by government attorneys and agents.

* Testifying truthfully and completely before grand juries and at such pre-trial and trial proceedings.

* Testifying truthfully and completely in local, state, and federal courts in jurisdictions which have agreed to abide by the plea agreement.

* Providing proactive cooperation to the government regarding individuals involved in criminal activity involving unlawful transportation of individuals for prostitution or other sexual activity which is prohibited by law.

* Providing cooperation to any local, state, or federal authorities designated by the government.

In exchange, Stebick could be imprisoned from four to ten months, be fined from $3,000 to $30,000 and be on supervised probation for two to three years.

The plea agreement's factual basis is based on facts that both Stebick and U.S. Attorney's office agreed to. It states that in October, 2005, the defendant, Michael R. Stebick, together with John Trowbridge, Len Wah Chong, a former New York State Supreme Court Judge AKA "Judge" and others whose identities are known to the parties, agreed to knowingly transport a woman who was an illegal alien from New York to Kentucky.

Chong owned four "massage" and "acupressure" businesses that were fronts for prostitution and kept as many as 11 illegal aliens as sex slaves. She pleaded guilty to a Felony Information early last April, charging her with "Sex Trafficking of Persons by Force, Fraud and Coercion." More details can be read here.

Stebick's plea states that Trowbridge picked up the prostitute from Chong's Golden Acupressure business and then "drove her to a parking lot of Leisure Land in Hamburg, New York to board a motor home driven by Stebick to transport her, the co-conspirators and others known and unknown to the U.S. Attorney's office, to Ashland, Kentucky" so she could:

"engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity in exchange for money with members of a men's organization of which the defendant, John Trowbridge and the Judge were members, and which organization was holding a gathering in Kentucky the weekend of October 28 - 30, 2005. This organization maintained chapters throughout the United States, including in Western New York, and it was the custom of these chapters to host periodic meetings, usually on weekends, for their members. At most of these meetings, some members of the organization would be tasked to arrange for the presence of women at the meetings, for the specific purpose of utilizing the women to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity with the organization's members in exchange for money...The facts set forth above are those about which the government had independent information prior to the time the defendant indicated a desire to cooperate with the government and agreed to give statements regarding the defendant's involvement in criminal activity. It is understood and agreed to by the parties that additional information provided by the defendant cannot be used against the defendant."

Part of Stebick's plea agreement was to "immediately criminally forfeit" his 2000 Challenger 335 MHA motor home. It will be sold, with the proceeds also forfeited.

This is the second sex scandal to hit the Royal Order of Jesters after it was reported last March that nineteen members were also called as witnesses in a separate federal lawsuit to testify about their first hand knowledge of sex with minors while on a sanctioned Jesters fishing trip in Brazil.

Additionally, these three will most likely face disciplinary actions overseen by the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York, which could result in expulsion from the worldwide order. The Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of New York, Edward Savitzky, referred questions about the disciplinary process and the Grand Master's reactions to the Lodge's public relations firm, with no answers yet.

Stebick and Tills, both attorneys and members of the New York Bar Association, also face automatic disbarment upon pleading guilty to federal felonies.

A call placed to the Royal Order of Jesters headquarters to get reaction from executive director Alex Rogers was unsuccessful because their phone number has been disconnected.

This investigation is being conducted by New York Western District's Human Trafficking Task Force and Alliance.

According to a Department of Justice announcement, the task force was created in November, 2006 and "is a collaboration of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and non-government service organizations working together to identify, rescue and assist victims of human trafficking, human smuggling and other civil and human rights offenses in the 17 counties of the district, through aggressive investigation, prosecution, training, education and outreach to law enforcement, non government organizations, vulnerable and affected persons and the general public."

These groups include the FBI, Erie County Sheriff's Office, Custom and Border Protection, Unted States Border Patrol with the assistance of the Niagara County Sherriff's Office and the Tonawanda Police Department. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert C. Moscati, who is also in charge of the task force.

In closing, Moscati said "We will go wherever the evidence leads us."

(1) The Royal Order of Jesters is an invitation-only fraternal sub-group of the Shriners, best known for operating a network of 22 hospitals that provides free medical care to burned and crippled children. The Revised Constitution and Bylaws of the National Court of the Royal Order of Jesters spells out the close relationship between the two groups. It can be read here. Both groups have been classified as "non profit" or "tax exempt" by the IRS. A Shriner committee that was tasked with investigating the alleged unethical conduct of hospital leaders Ralph Semb and Gene Bracewell. The committee's report revealed, among other things, that Semb may have knowingly executed a fraudulent tax return. Semb and Bracewell are also Jesters. The Interim Report can be read here.

All copies of material reprinted or duplicated from "by Sandy Frost" must include the following credit line: From http://sandyfrost.newsvine.com/ Copyright © 2008 by Sandy Frost. Used by permission.

 
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